Portland was deemed the fourth U.S. city gentrifying the fastest, according to analysis by the real estate database Realtor.com.
To some cities, displacing poor or working-class families from neighborhoods undergoing a revival is a new phenomenon. Not so in Portland, where city leaders allowed urban renewal that razed blocks of homes as far back as the 1950s.
Supporters of gentrification say long-term homeowners see property values rise, and benefit from safer streets, better schools, new retailers, services and jobs.
But as Portland has experienced, whole communities can be displaced when people can’t afford to remain in their neighborhood.
Realtor.com data showed that the Portland’s median home price zoomed from $148,000 in 2000 to $340,000 in 2015, a 129.7 percent increase.
“Since the 1960s and ’70s, there has been serial displacement of the African-American community,” said Katrina Holland, executive director of Portland’s Community Alliance of Tenants in a Realtor.com news release. “Now it’s the first time that white, middle-class families are also being priced out.”
To find the fastest gentrifying cities in the country, Realtor.com’s data team looked at cities with populations of 50,000 or more, as well as the neighborhoods of 1,200 to 8,000 people — called U.S. Census Tracts — in lower-income areas with home values that had the potential for gentrification.
The data team compared home values and residents’ income and education levels in the years from 2000 to 2015, to assess which cities were seeing the biggest turnaround.
Here are the results:
1. Charleston, South Carolina
Gentrification potential achieved: 62.5 percent
Median home price increase, 2000 to 2015: $152,100 to $270,000 (+77.5 percent)
Since 1990, Charleston’s black population has declined from 42 percent to 23 percent, according to Realtor.com citing Census Bureau statistics. One reason: Shoreview Apartments, a downtown housing project, was razed to make way for an upscale community of single-family homes.
2. Asheville, North Carolina
Gentrification potential achieved: 50 percent
Median home price increase, 2000 to 2015: $125,000 to $235,000 (+88 percent)
New gated golf communities sell homes for prices as high as $6.5 million.
3. Washington, DC
Gentrification potential achieved: 39.4 percent
Median home price increase, 2000 to 2015: $159,900 to $525,000 (+228.3 percent)
Goals to revitalize the city’s depressed neighborhoods have resulted in the Navy Yard (home of the Nationals’ new ballpark), NoMa and Columbia Heights neighborhoods with restaurants, bars and shopping.
4. Portland, Oregon
Gentrification potential achieved: 33.9 percent
Median home price increase, 2000 to 2015: $148,000 to $340,000 (+129.7%)
How could data discover that Portland has achieved only 33.9 percent of its gentrification potential? The analysis starts with 2000, and Portland was ahead of the curve, according to Stanford graduate Yuqing Pan, who writes data-driven stories for Realtor.com.
5. Denver, Colorado
Gentrification potential achieved: 32.8 percent
Median home price increase, 2000 to 2015: $162,000 to $316,000 (+95.1 percent)
Denver’s booming tech industry, outdoor lifestyle and Colorado’s legalization of marijuana have drawn transplants and developers to the city.
Three multibillion-dollar developments in North Denver neighborhoods of Globeville and Elyria-Swansea vaulted property values by 60 percent from 2013 to 2015, and homeowners’ property taxes jumped by as much as $600, according to Stephen Moore, policy director for FRESC, a nonprofit organization working with low-income communities as quotes in the news release.
“Many of our historical black and Hispanic communities are being destroyed explicitly by gentrification,” Moore said in the news release. “We are not against investment in those communities, we want that. But we’d like to see more policies that protect the people that live there now, and help them stay.”
6. Nashville, Tennessee
Gentrification potential achieved: 27.6 percent
Median home price increase, 2000 to 2015: $118,400 to $205,000 (+73.1 percent)
The Nashville metro gains 71 to 100 people every day, mainly from entertainment and health care industries, according to Realtor.com. Young professionals are moving into East Nashville, where there once were old and inexpensive houses.
7. Sacramento, California
Gentrification potential achieved: 26.5 percent
Median home price increase, 2000 to 2015: $127,500 to $255,000 (+100 percent)
Decades of urban redevelopment and affordable real estate draws young professionals and empty nesters, says Realtor.com. Former hard-knock neighborhood Midtown has pricey new condos, and rents are rising in Oak Park, a historically black neighborhood.
8. Jersey City, New Jersey
Gentrification potential achieved: 24.5 percent
Median home price increase, 2000 to 2015: $142,000 to $380,000 (+167.6 percent)
The falling crime rate and new condos are attracting people to this city just over the river from Manhattan. An easy commute and affordable homes also draws in people who otherwise would consider desirable parts of Brooklyn.
9. Long Beach, California
Gentrification potential achieved: 22.4 percent
Median home price increase from 2000 to 2015: $179,000 to $455,000 (up 154.2 percent)
A former department store and other buildings are being turned into high-end condos. The previous industrial hub with rundown buildings is now a residential community, with amenities like boutiques, craft breweries and restaurants, say Realtor.com.
The average rent downtown is now $2,645, according to Rent Jungle. Millennial metro renters are educated singles who support the arts, spend money on the newest technology, and want to live in a neighborhood that’s walkable and bikeable, says the report.
10. Austin, Texas
Gentrification potential achieved: 22.2 percent
Median home price increase from 2000 to 2015: $152,600 to $299,300 (96.1 percent)
An East Austin nonprofit had about 250 people on a waiting list for affordable housing a decade ago. That number had risen to 700 by 2015. As Austin’s population grew, people from outside the community were drawn to the low rents of the area close to downtown.
— Homes & Gardens of the Northwest staff
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